10 Must-Dos to Win Your Next Interview

Finally! After applying to countless companies, you’ve been invited to interview for the only job you actually wanted all along. Now it’s your time to shine. Hopefully you’ve accumulated some interview experience or prepared otherwise to really make this one count.

The unfortunate thing about having a lot of interview experience is that you usually have to fail a lot of interviews to acquire it. Luckily, I had acquired enough experience (i.e., failures) before my interviews with Deloitte Consulting, where I went 10 for 10 to receive an offer for their coveted Summer Associate internship during my MBA program. Since then, I’ve successfully interviewed for other opportunities like fellowships at Harvard and advisor positions with rapid-growth tech startups.

Here are my top 10 tips to help you get the offer you’re looking for without acquiring any more experience the hard way.?

Before the Interview

?1. Do your homework

Take the time to thoroughly research the company and the interviewer or interviewers you’ll be speaking with. Where did they go to school? Where have they lived? What sports are they into? You might feel like a LinkedIn stalker, but most interviewers will just be impressed that you made the effort to get to know them. It shows how much you care about the opportunity and how professional you are by doing the prep work. If you’re lucky, you’ll find some commonalities between you and the interviewer that you can bring up at the beginning of your interview, if they’re chatty.

2. Write down your stories and your questions

Have you ever thought of the perfect answer to a question after it was too late? Don’t let that happen to you on game day. You might think that you already know your stories about your own life, but you’d be surprised. Find a list of common interview questions and think carefully about how you’d answer each of them. Think about your strengths that are relevant for the position and be ready to tell compelling stories from your career journey that demonstrate those strengths. Be prepared to answer tricky questions about your weaknesses and a time you failed, too.

Similarly, write down the 3-5 questions that you want to ask. The last thing you want is to end an interview five minutes early with awkward silence because you don’t have any questions ready. If the company just made an excitement announcement in the news, then make sure you ask about that. Questions about the company’s culture, the ways they’re growing, and the interviewer’s favorite things about working there are great, too.

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?3. Warm up your voice

This might sound silly, but I’m not kidding. You don’t want the very first word you say that morning to be the start of your interview. Just a few minutes of humming can make your voice sound more rich, calm, and confident. Hot tea is also great for your vocal cords. Follow along to some vocal warm-ups on YouTube or rock out to your favorite song 15-30 minutes before you interview. Just make sure you don’t break out into song while you’re sitting in the waiting room.

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4. Get in the right mindset

If you’re swallowing your panic right before you walk in the room, or join the Zoom call, you’re not going to do as well as you could if you were in a positive mental state. In fact, I’d bet your chances of winning over the interviewer are 5 to 10 times better if you’re in the right mindset. Find a mirror, look yourself in the eyes, and tell yourself you’ve got this. Say it out loud like you mean it. Think about the accomplishments you’re most proud of and give yourself a huge pat on the back. You are awesome. Now give yourself a high five in that mirror and take a couple deep breaths. Deep breaths are your best friend.

Again, you don’t want to look crazy, so make sure the restroom is completely empty before you start your pep talk.

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5. Be ready early

As we say in the military, on time is late and 15 minutes early is on time. You just never know what’s going to come up that could derail your timeline. Planning to be ready early means you can make sure your laptop is plugged in or your car actually has enough gas to get you there. Being ready to go early means you’ll be less stressed, which means you’ll be more confident. If you’re confident, then the interviewer will be more confident about you. Do yourself a favor and save a few minutes before the interview to calm down, review your game plan, and give yourself that epic pep talk.

If you’ve followed these prep steps, then you’re ready to knock it out of the park. Keep the next five points in mind to really seal the deal.

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During the Interview

6. Mirror their body language

I’ve seen candidates get dinged for slouching too much and for not slouching enough. The safest thing to do is to copy the body language of your interviewer. I would add, however, that you should stay on the more formal and professional side of copying their posture and mannerisms. If your interviewer’s posture is completely informal that does not mean that you should be completely informal. It does mean that you might want to relax just a bit, though. Like tip #9 below, military candidates can sometimes be seen as too rigid. There’s no need to sit on the edge of your chair with one hand on each knee and your back ramrod straight as you stare a hole into the wall in front of you. Your goal is to demonstrate that you can have a professional and enjoyable conversation with someone more senior to you. That requires you to have more personality and poise than a robot.

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7. Match their energy

Generally speaking, people like people who are like them. Mirroring your interviewers body language is good advice, but it’s more important to match their energy. If they’re quiet and reserved, then don’t dominate them with your booming voice and big personality. Similarly, if the interviewer is loud and expressive, then don’t shrink into the corner. If they speak quickly, then try to pick it up a bit. Just like mirroring their body language, don’t be obvious about this. The last thing you want is for them to think you’re mocking them. Case in point, I’ve seen candidates make the mistake of copying the interviewer’s accent, intentionally or unintentionally. Don’t do that.

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8. Remember it’s just a conversation, not an interrogation

High-pressure interviews are generally frowned upon these days, so it’s unlikely that your interviewer will try to make you uncomfortable. In most cases, your interviewer is trying to set you up for success. If you’re doing a case interview or they’re asking you about a scenario, remember to listen for clues they might be giving you. Picking up on these clues and applying them to your responses will show that you are coachable and help you get to the answer they’re looking for.

Some companies, such as Amazon, do tend to put some pressure on candidates to see how they respond. Being aware of this before you start, however, means that you know not to take it personally. It’s just a test! The only way to fail that test is to get upset and defensive. Don’t let anyone push your buttons. Real professionals know how to ignore rude behavior and focus on the task at hand. That doesn’t mean letting someone treat you poorly, but don’t let things like an interviewer rolling their eyes or looking at their watch get under your skin.

Interviews are just a more formal conversation. The more you let yourself enjoy speaking with the interviewer, the better you’ll do.

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9. Smile

In his legendary book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie devoted pages to smiling. It’s a big deal. I echo the importance of this reminder because I have seen people lose out on their dream job because they didn’t smile. Transitioning military veterans are guilty of this sin more often than I’d care to admit. On the other hand, don’t be weird about it. I say this because I have also seen people glue an unnaturally eccentric smile on their face for 45 minutes. You don’t need to show me your wisdom teeth. Please – please – be positive in a natural way. Again, don’t be a robot.

Smiling is critical in the US, but remember that there are some countries and cultures that frown on smiling too much. This is another point where doing your research beforehand can really pay off.

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10. Make eye contact

One of your primary goals is to establish a genuine human connection between you and your interviewers. To do that, you need to make eye contact about 50% of the time. If you’re on a virtual call, that means staring at your camera lens, but don’t forget to look at them on your screen, too, so you pick up on their body language and energy. You don’t want to miss clues like them raising their eyebrows or looking at their watch as you give a five-minute answer.

Finally, don’t forget to send a thank you note after your interview. Little things like sending a thank you note might not move the needle that much, but you don’t want to be the only candidate who didn’t say thank you afterward. It’s also just a nice thing to do.

Following all of these steps might take a few hours. You might be thinking that you could apply to 20 more jobs during that time, but I urge you to prioritize quality over quantity. If you’ve landed an interview, and it’s an opportunity you’re actually excited about, then take the time to give it 100%. Go deep here. I guarantee you’ll have better results than winging the interview and shotgunning a few more applications out there.

If you need help to prepare for your next interview, or you feel stuck in your job search, please reach out to me at [email protected].